Route 59 construction in Naperville, Aurora blows Oct. 1 deadline

Work to widen Route 59 along the Naperville/Aurora border was supposed to be finished by an Oct. 1 deadline.

Three lanes of through traffic were supposed to be available in both directions between Aurora Avenue/New York Street and Ferry Road.

Take one drive through what remains a work zone after more than two years, though, and it's apparent: The construction isn't finished.

In the northern section of the $90 million project, from North Aurora to Ferry roads, contractors were given a deadline extension because of additional grading work and unanticipated water main repairs, according to Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell. Work there is expected to be complete by mid-October.

Further south, between Aurora Avenue/New York Street and North Aurora Road, the Oct. 1 deadline remains, but the work is further behind. In that section, three lanes aren't expected to be available in both directions until early November, Tridgell said.

That means continued delays for drivers and inconveniences for business operators, who have been asking for months, “When is the construction going to be done?” said Nicki Anderson, president and CEO of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce.

“They're trying to stay afloat, which they have been. It's just been a severe inconvenience,” Anderson said about the 60 chamber members in the construction zone. “If you can just get through November when you start doing your holiday shopping, you'll have amazing access to these businesses. It will be worth it.”

One business eager for construction to end is Dental Pointe on Route 59 just north of North Aurora Road. Office manager Raghu Seeth said employees and patients have seen delays accessing both entrances to the practice, as the project also includes adding turn lanes and widening sections of cross streets such as North Aurora.

“During some points, access to our building was very difficult because all the access points were either dug up or there were construction signs,” Seeth said. “It looks like they're kind of finishing up now, but at one point, we were severely impacted.”

All lanes are expected to be open in front of Dental Pointe by the middle of this month. But businesses farther south will face ongoing work for another few weeks after that.

The delay could mean penalties for the contractors in charge of the southern section — Martam Construction Inc. of Elgin and K-Five Construction Corp. of Lemont.

A contract involving the Illinois Department of Transportation, Martam and K-Five allows IDOT to charge $6,775 a day for every day work continues past the deadline.

Tridgell said the companies have the right to ask for a deadline extension if delays were caused by circumstances beyond their control.

A representative of K-Five directed questions to Martam. A Martam representative did not return a call.

Seeth said he hopes the contractors face fines.

“Many times during the construction there was hardly anyone here. I'm sure the contractor could have done a lot of things to speed up the construction,” Seeth said.

Still, finishing a $90 million project covering three miles of a heavily traveled road a handful of weeks late is a much better result than seeing the work delayed more than a year, said Bill Novack, director of transportation, engineering and development for the city of Naperville.

“For a project over two years to be this close at the end of the contract is very good,” Novack said.

But it ain't over till it's over, business operators say.

“Until everything is done and open and cleared up,” Seeth said, “people are still going to avoid it.”